Get Great Glutes: How To Do The Clamshell Exercise

How To Get Sexy Glutes!

Tone and tighten your glutes with the clamshell exercise.

Glute training is a hot topic right now in the exercise industry because so many people want to get that head-turning set of glutes.

Whether it’s to look great in a pair of jeans or simply because they want the functional strength that comes with stronger glute muscles, they are training these muscles each and every leg day that comes around.

Often the route they take is to perform heavy lifts like squats, deadlifts, lunges, and split squats.

And while there is no question these exercises can definitely deliver, what you need to remember is that you will also have the quads and hamstrings firing as well.

As these muscle groups are so large and strong, often they can completely take over the movement, calling very little of your glutes into play.

To help avoid this, you need a glute isolation move. This is where the clamshell exercise comes into play.

Let’s go over how to do this and then how to add advancement whenever you’re ready.

Doing The Clamshell Exercise

To perform the clamshell exercise, you’ll need to lay on the ground on your side with your knees bent to about 90 degrees. There should be a bend in the waist so your knees are at about a 135 degree angle.

Now, with the leg that is facing the ceiling, you will, while keeping the knee bent, open the leg upward as you move the knee upwards.

Make this rotational arch with the knee and as soon as you are pointing upwards, pause and then slowly lower, while keeping the leg under control.

Never drop the leg back to the start – rather you want to resist the tension the entire time. As you do this, you should begin to feel it hitting the middle of the glute area, deep within the bum region.

Keep doing reps until you feel that burning sensation taking place and then try and do 5-10 more.

Rest for 20 seconds and then repeat, one or two more times.

Once you’ve finished doing all your sets to one side, switch to the other side of the body and repeat to that side.

When doing this movement, you should feel no other muscles working except for your glute muscles.

If you do, you’ll need to adjust your knee angle slightly with the rest of the body until you do feel it just in the glute region.

Adding Advancement

Get sexy glutes with focused exercises.

Now, once you’ve been doing this for a few weeks and it’s starting to feel easier, you need to up the ante a little. This means adding some way to advance the movement.

The best way to do this is to add a resistance band. Simply loop the band around both knees and now, when you lift the knee upwards, you’ll be fighting against the resistance of that band.

These bands come in different strength levels, so find one that will provide the right amount of challenge for you.

Alternatively, if exercising with a partner, you can also have them apply some pressure to your leg, which you now need to work against as you try and bring the knee upwards.

Have them adjust the pressure as needed.

So there you have the clamshell exercise. While it may not seem nearly as effective as the squat or deadlift, when it comes to glute training, it can get this muscle group working far harder as the quads and hamstrings will not be able to come into play to help execute the movement.